Globalisation and rapid environmental change have created many challenges for public and private organisations across Iraq as a developing country, particularly in the higher education sector. This includes, for example, decreases in government funding; increased demand for higher education; a need for economic transformation, and related competitiveness of organizations. Such challenges require exceptional leaders and strategic planning in order to take action to improve. In Iraq, the higher education sector is still one of the main foundations in progressing the knowledge economy. Studies into leadership style, strategic planning processes, and the importance of leadership and organisational culture to an organisation’s success have been used to assist both public and private Iraqi colleges in responding to the challenges they face. Although, some studies have examined the interaction between leadership and strategic planning, and leadership and organisational success, there has been no empirical study that has investigated how these three variables interact together. Thus, this study aimed, firstly, to identify the current leadership styles and strategic planning processes in the colleges and the challenges they faced, and to gain an understanding from the perspective of the senior leaders themselves as to how they might best respond to the current situation. Secondly, based on the participants’ experiences, knowledge and perceptions, the study aimed to identify implications for both practice and policy to help improve the colleges’ outcomes. The study involved a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, the researcher gathered quantitative data by administering a survey package to 129 leaders (deans, associate deans, and heads of departments) across both public and private colleges in the capital city of Baghdad. During the second stage, the researcher gathered qualitative data to more deeply explore the survey results by conducting individual interviews with a sub-sample of 21 leaders from both college types (ten public and 11 private). In the data analyses stages, both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to compiling tables and charts, and to test hypotheses, by employing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Microsoft Excel, and NVivo. The results of study showed that both transformational and transactional leadership styles played a varied and vital role in the colleges’ strategic planning processes, and in turn their success. The fact that private colleges were ‘for profit’ and public colleges were ‘not for profit’, as well as their contrasting funding models, highlighted key differences between the two college types’ leadership and general modus operandi. While it was found that both transformative leadership and transactional leadership styles were necessary to address the challenges colleges faced in the Iraqi educational context, the impetus for change extended far beyond the need for professional development of leaders. The embracing of information communication technologies, and reliable Internet was seen as necessary in all aspects of the colleges’ work and provision for teaching and learning, and students’ success. This applied to both college types along with the need for closer adherence to government regulations and more focused government coordination of colleges’ administrative functions. Furthermore, implications for making successful improvements to practice also identified the need to manage the challenge of sociocultural influences on the appointments and promotions of leaders. It was concluded that a greater emphasis on teamwork and provision of incentives for staff, along with a ‘boost’ to pedagogy and practice, which could be provided through the adoption of information communication technologies and appropriate professional development strategies, would enhance the colleges’ ranks and the status of their qualifications. Also, theoretically, the study offers a value-add to leadership, strategic planning process, and organisational success literature in the form of a conceptual model that links these variables in the context of Iraqi higher education sector.
AW Ali T, Journal of the Faculty of Medicine, 2016 - Cited by 1
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The study aimed to reveal the obstacles of administrative creativity among the leaders of secondary schools (the curriculum system) in the northern border region, which relate to the obstacles (organizational, motivational, and psychological). In addition, to identify the most important statistical differences between the responses of the members of the study sample, which attribute to the variables (educational qualification, year’s Administrative expertise). To achieve the goal of the study, the researcher used the descriptive analytical approach, and to verify the validity of the tool, it has presented to several referees and faculty members in the educational field. The validity of the internal consistency was also calculated for t
... Show MoreThe current research deals with the study of aesthetic relations in the field of interior design and the extent to which its mechanisms achieve sensory stimulation between the internal and external spaces, to generate a continuous visual connection that is an extension of it, achieving in turn sensory stimulation for the users of those spaces. The internal and external spaces meet the desired purpose of feeling pleasure and beauty.” The current research aims to “discover the nature of aesthetic relations between the internal and external spaces and the extent to which mechanisms can achieve sensory stimulation in residential spaces.” The first topic included the concept of aesthetic relations, sensory excitement, and perception at
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A numerical investigation has been performed to study the effect of eccentricity on unsteady state, laminar aiding mixed convection in a horizontal concentric and eccentric cylindrical annulus. The outer cylinder was kept at a constant temperature
while the inner cylinder was heated with constant heat flux. The study involved numerical solution of transient momentum (Navier-Stokes) and energy equation using finite difference method (FDM), where the body fitted coordinate system (BFC) was
used to generate the grid mesh for computational plane. The governing equations were transformed to the vorticity-stream function formula as for momentum equations and to the temperature and stream function for energy equation.
A computer progra
Objective: To evaluate biomarkers of insulin resistance and acute phase reactants in obese, overweight and lean subjects and investigate the associations among those biomarkers. Methodology: This cross sectional study included 158 subjects who were stratified into three groups. Group1 comprised 53 obese patients (BMI≥ 30 kg/m2); group 2 were 54 overweight subjects, and group 3 had 51 healthy lean (BMI
This article is part of the bigger project of my PhD thesis which investigates the influence of the British war poetry of the twentieth century on the development of Iraqi poetry in the century/Plymouth University/UK. The article examines the influences of British poetry on the development of the forms of poetry in Iraq after the Second World War. The aim is to shed the light on the creation of the ‘third product’ or the Iraqi poetry that shows the influences of the translated British poetry or the ‘second product’; which was written in prose for it is almost impossible to transfer the rhyme and rhythm of poetry from one language to another. Those who translated the poetry where also the pioneers of the major formal revolution in Ar
... Show MoreColonialism radically transformed the cultures of colonized peoples, often rupturing Indigenous traditions and folklore. Whether creating colonial discourse, promoting orientalist literature, advocating western educational institutions, or through biased media representations, imperial powers systematically oppressed Indigenous and Native peoples. Subjugated communities, however, created, and still form postcolonial discourse from their knowledge systems. This discourse insists on Indigenous and Native culture as central to Indigenous and Native peoples identity. This study examines the postcolonial literature of three groups: Kānaka Maoli, African Americans, and Iraqis. The scope of this dissertation scrutinizes how folklore is employed
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) and adhesive remnant index (ARI) of different orthodontic adhesive systems after exposure to aging media (water storage and acid challenge). Materials and methods: Eighty human upper premolar teeth were extracted for orthodontic purposes and randomly divided into two groups (40 teeth each): the first group in which the bonded teeth were stored in distilled water for 30 days at 37°C, and the second group in which the bonded teeth were subjected to acid challenge. Each group was further subdivided into four subgroups (10 teeth each) according to the type of adhesive system that would be bonded to metal brackets: either non-fluoride releasing adhesive (NFRA),
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